dibber25

I can offer these two of a chance encounter. I was often lucky with trains when I called in at a station on the off-chance, and this was one of those occasions. The date stamp on the prints is August 1965. The location is Builth Road High Level and D6833 was approaching with a short freight. I'm pretty certain it was around mid-afternoon. Sorry about the quality of the pictures it was very dull and raining at the time. (CJL)

Ah, but did I mean the guy in the picture, or the person Rapido has actually hired? (CJL)

In my part-time role as Consultant Editor on Model Rail, I have little or nothing to do with the choice of content for any issue, other than my own article contributions. So the first I get to see of most articles is as proofs. In the office on a Monday morning, I would find a pile of proofs on my desk to wade through, checking words, spelling, captions to pictures, and so on. Since working from home began in March, I now log-in to read proofs on screen, so it was with some delight that I opened my computer recently to find a stunning photo of what was very obviously the Connel Ferry Bridge in miniature. I knew the builder's name, Pete Midwinter from way back when, as Editor myself, I had published a feature on one of Pete's previous layouts. I was shocked, indeed, to learn of Pete's passing just days before his latest, splendid structure appeared in print. Sadly, he never got to see it, although I've no doubt he saw Chris Nevard's photographs. My sincere condolences to Pete's wife, family and friends at this very sad time. (Chris Leigh)

The Dyson tank trailers used on the Ro-tanks were definitely round. Took loads of shots with modelling in mind -12 years ago - but still haven't built the model! (CJL)

Does he?

It's computer artwork, not actual paint shades. I have never been entirely convinced that it was ever green but I have been shown a couple of pictures that appear to prove the point. However, there was a tendency for green to register much darker on the colour films of the period. It is well known that the shade it carries at present is something bought off the shelf in a DIY store and bears no relation to the actual BR loco green. Equally, if the black was printed as black on the artwork, all the detail in black would disappear. (CJL)

As I said previously, I don't have any of the samples here any more and I can't answer those questions other than to say that 14.5mm is the BRMSB standard back-to-back measurement for 'OO' gauge. (CJL)

From memory - I no longer have any samples on hand to check - The NEM pocket is a standard plastic moulding with a flexible, wedge-shaped mounting at the back, it slots into a similar shaped slot in the cast chassis block. The complete pocket is easily removable and you can't see the mounting from any normal viewing angles. I took the lot off before I shot my movie. Chris Nevard took the coupler out but left the pocket in place when he shot his. There's certainly no need to 'hack' anything off and there's nothing to unscrew. (CJL)

That comment by David Boyle was in an early issue of Model Rail. My understanding was that much of the Kitmaster tooling was damaged by water (and subsequent rust) while in storage. I believe that info may also have come from David Boyle. There are lots of 'popular legends' which circulate in this hobby and where tooling is concerned there are many reasons why it becomes of no use or no value - sometimes remarkable quickly. (CJL)

It is right opposite an eatery in the Outlet Centre in the former Swindon Works - a 'really awful shopping mall'?!! And directly across from the STEAM railway museum. Difficult to see how it could be in a better location, but sadly no doubt another victim of the Covid-19 crisis.

I think they were the only M-420B units. They were delivered in 1975 and there were only 6 or 8 of them. They were used as mid-train units The reference I have says they were used with the railway's radio-control cars but it also says that the M420B hostlers cab contained a radio control receiver and I have a feeling they enabled BCR to dispose of its radio-control cars which were conversions of much older F7 or F9 B-units. (CJL)

British Columbia railway had M-420B units that were MLW M420s without a cab for radio-controlled mid-train use. They had a hostler's cab - a cubicle - at one end. (CJL)

Very true. I did my full trans-continental trip in 2012 (quite by chance co-inciding with the centenary of the sinking). I have long been fascinated by Titanic. It is difficult not to be affected, even at 100 years distance, by the small part of Fairlawn Cemetery in Halifax given over to the 112 bodies recovered by the Mackay-Bennett. So few from so many victims, and most of those identified only as a number. But back to trains. If you're ever in Montreal do go to the railway museum at Delson. It's not particularly easy to access unless you're familiar with the local public transport. I took a taxi and it cost me £50 each way and from memory took about half an hour. There's even an A4 and a Terrier in there as well as some of the best of CP and CN. (CJL)

It wasn't the CP that collapsed. CP is very much alive and well. Downton Abbey linked the family's lost fortune to the collapse of the Grand Trunk, which failed after the death of its boss, Charles Melville Hays. Hays was in the UK in 1912 trying to raise finance for the completion of the second trans-continental line, when his pregnant daughter fell ill in New York. He rushed back home, booking a ticket on the SS Titanic. His private car is in the railway museum in Montreal. If you're lucky and you turn up at the right time, they take visitors on a conducted tour. I had one in 2012. Hays' was one of the bodies recovered after the sinking and his car was sent to Halifax NS to collect it. His had been a last ditch attempt to solicit finance for the GTR's completion. After that, the Canadian government took over the project and it became Canadian National Railways (CN).

Maybe something to do with having to SELL the model? Make it look a bit pretty and it'll sell more than just a dull plain black. Easy enough to dab a spot of black paint over whatever you don't like - and then weather it. (CJL)

....and here's the rear of the train, empty tank cars and the caboose. To me, trains still look wrong without one. (CJL)

Modelling CP Rail on Vancouver Island is a good way to model Canadian without needing space for huge trains. This pair of GPs were switching Topshelf Feeds, an animal feed supplier that used grain, soya beans etc brought in by rail in cylindrical grain hoppers. There were usually a couple of box cars which came from businesses in Store Street, Victoria, which was actually served by a tramway-style line down the centre of the street. There was also propane traffic in tank cars and dust suppressant for the dirt roads, delivered in tank cars. Trains were seldom more than 6-10 cars, and cabooses were still in use at that time. (CJL)

Thanks for that. It's sort of how I remember it. To mis-quote Eric Morecambe, "All the right bits but necessarily in the right order"! Had forgotten the all-important ashtray. I bet they aren't included in the cab of modern trains. (CJL)

From memory, and I may be remembering different cabs from different time periods, but I thought the Sunflower was in a rounded-top 'box' in the middle close to the handbrake wheel. (As an aside I listened, once, to a woman explaining to her small child that the handbrake wheel was the 'steering wheel'. The child wasn't interested enough to ask why the driver wasn't holding it!) Yes, you're right, the cone of the brake valve was black, with a deep score mark around the base, where the handle clipped in place. Wish I could remember what it was that was red so I can tweak the paintwork in the cab when I open mine up. Also, I wonder if the green one has the big phone (was it called a LOUDAPHONE?) mounted on the right side of the driver's chair. I seem to think these disappeared when the units were refurbished, or maybe before. (CJL)

Just looking at that picture of the interior, I seem to recall that the button directly in front of the driver was the GWR ATC cancelling button. Was the same button used for the BR AWS? I recall watching the driver cancel the ATC as we romped through Sonning cutting with semaphore signals and the old ATC ramps. I remember the 'cone' of the brake being red - or was it the actual brake handle that was red. The picture - and the piece of movie - shows how desperately these models need a driver. I know manufacturers have resisted this for years on cost grounds but I'd happily pay good money not to have to open the model up - and try to find a driver figure that will actually fit without having to start by cutting the seat out etc. (CJL)

Interesting that it is allowed to carry the 'HMS' as it is clearly NOT Her Majesty's Ship but a locomotive. Times change - 'Warships' and Class 50s were only allowed to carry the name, not the HMS. (CJL)

Steven Spielberg's 'Super 8' leads me to think the great man might be a modeller, though the train crash itself is a computer generated job. The movie includes some railway modelling content and the leading young hero even, at one point, explains to his girlfriend the technique of dry-brushing! (CJL)

First shots off the tooling:

I actually thought the list thing was something that magazines had picked up from the 'social media' as there seems to be a steady stream of them on Facebook etc - "Ten things you didn't know about so-and so". The current issue of MR was an opportunity for us to look at favourite aspects of the hobby and of the railway and to express our enthusiasm in a way that we hope was eye-catching, thought-provoking and inspirational, while the pandemic was preventing us - and most of you - from enjoying some of the more usual and communal aspects of railways and modelling. (CJL)

No one in this business can afford duplication. Model Rail does its homework before making an announcement. That's why you have a 'USA' and not a Dean Goods, and why we announced an E1 and not a Terrier. No one else was working on a 16XX. Apart from the fact that it's a pannier tank, there is little comparison between the 16XX and the Bachmann 94XX. The 94XX is an in-house production, the 16XX is designed and built by a specialist contractor, so there is immediately another layer of cost which is unavoidable. The 94XX is likely to have a larger production run and to be available for some years, allowing the tooling and set-up costs to be spread much more thinly. However, if you want a small, lightweight pannier tank for your rural branchline, the 16XX is more appropriate than the 94XX so the two aren't really interchangeable. (CJL)